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Fort Benjamin Hawkins
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== History == Fort Hawkins was built by the United States in 1806, and was a place of "relatively great economic, military, and political importance."<ref name="Elliott"/> For the Creek Nation, it was a center of the deerskin trade with Americans, who had a trading post or factory there.<ref name="Elliott">[http://thelamarinstitute.org/images/PDFs/publication_124.pdf Daniel T. Elliott, ''Fort Hawkins: 2005-2007 Field Seasons''], The LAMAR Institute, Report 124, 2008, p. 1, accessed 30 March 2013</ref> The US government used the fort as the Southeastern Command of the U.S. Army. It was "a major troop garrison and bivouac point for regular troops and state militia in several important campaigns, and a major [[United States Government Fur Trade Factory System|government fur trade factory]] for regulating the Creek economy."<ref name="Elliott"/> The Creek Indians ceded their lands east of the [[Ocmulgee River]], except for the Ocmulgee Old Fields. The fort was built on the highest ground in the immediate vicinity. The Lower Creek Trading Path passed just outside of the fort's northwestern blockhouse. This ancient path was improved and became a part of the [[Federal Road (Creek lands)|Federal Road]] to connect [[Washington, D.C.|the nation's capital city]] with the [[port]]s of [[Mobile, Alabama]], and [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]].<ref name="macon"/> This change encouraged the travel of many more troops, settlers, and visitors to the area.<ref name="Elliott"/> Fort Hawkins ('''not''' Fort Benjamin Hawkins) was named for [[Benjamin Hawkins]], who served as the General Superintendent of Indian Affairs (1796β1816) South of the Ohio River, as well as principal US [[Indian agent]] to the [[Creek (people)|Creek]]. A former [[US Senator]] from North Carolina, Hawkins had been appointed by President [[George Washington]] to deal with the [[Choctaw]], [[Cherokee]] and [[Chickasaw]] in the larger territory, and worked to bring about years of peace between the Creek and American settlers. Hawkins was named the Beloved Man of the Southeastern tribes, indicating the respect they had for him. He married Lavinia Downs, the daughter of Isaac Downs, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War.<ref>''Benjamin Hawkins, Indian Agent'', Merritt Pound, University of Georgia Press, 1957.</ref> Fort Hawkins was used during the U.S. military campaigns of the [[War of 1812]] against [[Great Britain]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Seibert|first1=David|title=War of 1812 Bicentennial Celebration|url=http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/bibb/war-of-1812-bicentennial-celebration|website=GeorgiaInfo: an Online Georgia Almanac|publisher=Digital Library of Georgia|access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref> General [[Andrew Jackson]] visited the Fort and used it as a staging area for the [[Battle of New Orleans]] from 1814-15, as well as during the [[Creek War|Creek]] and [[Seminole Wars|Seminole wars]]. After the frontier moved farther west, the military threat to interior Georgia essentially receded. Through the treaties of 1825 and 1826, the Creek were forced to move west of the [[Chattahoochee River]].<ref name="Elliott"/> The city of Macon was founded in 1823, and by 1828, the fort was in private ownership.<ref name="macon"/>
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